Charming Nollywood actress,
Chika Ike is quite an interesting personality to hang-out with. On the
other hand, the sultry actress who hails from Ekwuluobia, Umuchiana
village in Anambra State confesses that she has learnt some lessons in
life. The once married thespian talks about her acting career, her
thriving business and other related issues in this interview with KUNLE
AKINRINADE.
HOW true is it that you have a bad temper?
That story is not true, and those who
are saying that obviously don’t know me. I can be very terrible when I
am angry, but I know how to manage my anger very well. It’s either I
take a walk from the scene or I stay alone to calm down, because I know
that a man could say the worst things when angry.
If you are not an actress, what would you have been doing?
I would have opted for interior
decoration, painting and other similar things because of my passion for
things that has to do with arts or better still modeling. And as a
matter of fact, I started off as a model, but acting has taken that from
me now. Modeling is lucrative when you are on billboard or television
commercial. But acting has made me busier than modeling. However, I must
confess that I still want to be on the runway as a model, but acting is
not allowing it.
What lessons have life taught you so far?
Taking a look at my life lately, I think
I have learnt a lot of lessons so far. Life has taught me to be very
patient and not to be in a hurry to do anything. It has also taught me
to be less judgmental on people and to look before I leap; but more
importantly, not to give up.
Talking about looking before leaping, does it have to do with your crashed marriage?
I rather not talk about that because it
is my private life and I would like to keep it as that. That part of me
is one of those things I would rather have you not talk about.
But something must have happened to you before you can conclude on such matters…
Cuts in… You are still inching toward my private life and I think we should not delve into such things.
What has changed about you?
Nothing has changed about me at all. I
am still the same Chika Ike. I strive to achieve more in my career
because it is good to aim big for career improvement.
You recently marked your birthday on a film location in Enugu State. How did you celebrate it?
I threw a party at PK Garden in Enugu. I
am also planning a charity show for street children because my
foundation is concerned with the plight of street kids in our society. I
threw up a similar party for them a couple of months ago.
How do you manage the home when you are away on location?
(Laughter) I know what you want to get
at, and I would not oblige you. You want to fly through the window to
get an answer to your earlier question about my private life, but I bet
you won’t get me.
What do you consider when accepting roles; money or good script?
I consider the story, the plot, the
cast, the crew and the total output of the movie. Apart from these, I
also consider the publicity around the project. I don’t take roles
because of the financial gain. I have had cause to turn down scripts
because of the poor content or because the role is not challenging at
all. At times, I decline scripts because of my busy schedule. I have a
sucker for stories that are emotionally challenging and not uninspiring
roles.
How busy are you?
Right now, I am busy and greatly
occupied for the rest of the year, even up till January 2013. I have
been in Enugu for some weeks, and I don’t have time for any other thing
because it’s only fair for me to finish the jobs I had been paid for at
the moment.
Which job are you working on at the moment?
It is not my project; I am only being
featured in the movie. The working title is “kleptomania” and I played a
lead role in the movie. It is a big project and the movie was quite
challenging because in one of the scenes, I played the role of an
accident victim and was on clutches. It was indeed tough. But I think
the role is also a career booster, because it also portrays me as a
versatile and dynamic thespian.
What are your plans for the future?
I intend to run fashion outfits, not
just in Nigeria, but all over Africa. And hopefully, we would soon start
it. Although it’s still in the pipeline, but I am already working on it
with all my vigour. And because of my fashion business, I am planning
to bring models on the runway soon. By next year, I’ll also be part of a
movie project in the United States of America (USA). Thank God, I have a
great manager, publicist and people that make my life easy for me. They
have ensured that I don’t naturally get stressed up, so I can focus on
my career and other businesses.
How do you run from scandals?
It just happens. For example I have been
busy for several weeks; I have been traveling from one state to another
to take part in one movie or the other. For me, it’s not just about
being overly careful or intentionally trying to avoid scandals, but
being pre-occupied with jobs. Believe me; celebrities cannot insulate
themselves from scandals because even if you don’t curry one, the press
could give you a bad press, such that you will be trying frantically to
exonerate yourself.
Love for Charity work
This year in the month of May, Chika
hosted over three thousand kids at a party, held in Agodo, Lagos. The
party was part of the activities by Chika Ike Foundation, marking
Children’s day. School supplies and snack boxes were handed out to the
children who attended the party. She was also presented with an award of
recognition at the occasion by the traditional ruler of Agodo who was
present at the party.
Achievement as an actress
Between the years 2005 -2006, she did
well over 20 movies to her credit. This was to the amazement of a lot of
people given her quick and sudden rise to stardom and was appreciated
by many. In the year 2008, Chika Ike became an unexpected star after she
was cast in a leading role as an African Princess in an epic movie
called Mirror of Beauty which was shot on 35mm to the international
scene and was shown in seven Cinemas in London (Odeon and Cineworld)
where it was premiered.
The movie was later selected the only
African movie to be screened during the CANN film festival in CANNS 2008
because of the quality and beautiful African Culture exhibited in it.
It also got nominations and ward in Africa. The University of Lagos,
Human kinetics and health education graduate (Unilag) has graced the
covers of many local and international magazines. She has appeared on
numerous television shows on TV and Red Carpet events.
Entry into other venture
In September 24, 2011, Chika opened an
upscale fashion accessories store, Fancy Nancy Collections in the city
of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, which is now a must shop- store
for those discriminating, yet fashionable taste. The free spirited
actress, entrepreneur and model who is blessed with beauty, brain, fame
and fortune is a recipients of several awards and honours with the most
recent one from United Nation Organization as World Youth Ambassador.
Background
Born on Friday November 8th to the
prominent family of Ike and grew up in a close knit family of eight in
Lagos, Nigeria. She was raised by her religious parents who did not fail
to imbibe discipline hard work and tolerance. Chika as a child was nick
named by her nanny – Rebecca, Fancy Nancy because of her fanciful and
funny character as a child. She was sometime caught in her mum’s room
wearing mums high heel shoes and mimicking her mother in front of the
mirror, with heavy makeup on her face.
The famous actress was called a drama
queen severally by her friends and peers while growing up. Owing to her
discipline, she earned the position of senior prefect and her beauty
always made her to be crowed the most beautiful girl in her school. The
covetous beauty started acting at age six in her local church and
watched a lot of movies while growing up; this became the inception for
inspiration and challenge to join the movie industry. Never backing down
from challenges, she laced her shoes and stepped into the movies
auditioning ground in 2004 where she was auditioned for a movie. Her
hard work, patience and discipline helped her face and got prepared for
most things in life, but needless to say; she was surprised and
overwhelmed when called back four months later to pick up a script to do
a role in Nollywood movie.
Despite the fact that the role was a
minor one, she took it as a stepping stone to greater heights in her
aspiring career as an actress and did it so well. This landed her
another movie role, this time to play a major character. After the
African beauty – first major role in movie was released; it was adjudged
chart buster and a sell out in the market, resulting in directors and
producers recommending her for jobs and roles in movies. That same year
Chika did over five movies and was nominated as the best upcoming
actress (AMAA), an Africa Movie Academy Award in 2006 and a recognition
award for that same year.
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